The Observer Self and Ego-Consciousness

The following quote paints a clear picture of what is meant by "The Observer Self":

The observer self is that aspect of consciousness which can watch us act like fools and stand back at a safe distance, shaking its head in disbelief. It is capable of observing our behaviors with an even, unattached point of view. The observer can help us see our wounded areas, our habitual patterns, and our inner selves more clearly, without the interference of the ego and its desire to maintain the status quo. The observer self is an invaluable ally in personal growth that can lead us into higher levels of consciousness. - William Harryman

In your opinion would you and/or your customers benefit from detaching from ego-consciousness and stepping back into the observer self during the sales process and if so how? - by Community Mailbox

Aaaaaah, Grasshoppa.

You can bank on the fact that the ability to disconnect one's egotistical emotions, drives, selfish desires (especially those having to do with desperation to make a sale and fear that it will fall apart) can make an entire world of difference for both the sales person and the prospect/client/customer.

I personally can't even walk into a selling/influencing situation ready-to-go unless I wake up, consciously (snap myself out of the automatonic funk of mental-chatter) and approach with a sense of absolute clarity and concentration upon the present moment.

That 'awakened state' is the highest portion of our brain's intelligence in action, and when you're 'IN THE ZONE' (so to speak), you really aren't attached to a result, but entirely immersed in the experience of the PROCESS, the CONNECTION - able to actually LISTEN, rather than try and force your own opinions; able to truly understand, rather than judge; able to creatively see the PATH TO THE SALE like a GENIUS - it all comes together in the mind so clearly and easily - and, most interestingly, able to walk hand-in-hand with the prospect/client/customer all the way to the cash register without feeling like you actually had to do any 'work' for the sale.

You can absolutely control your own emotions, thoughts, impulses, COMPULSIONS (those silly habits that sabotage a sale), WORDS, timing, and actions - and the people you are connecting with LOVE it, and can detect the difference between you and a typical 'Salesman'.

You learn faster - master whatever 'system' you're using at a much quicker pace - and are much more able to adjust it and improvise, improve upon it, transform it into something more effective.

You can eliminate significantly the constant requirement to 'CLOSE HARD' because you're totally piped into the stream of profound insight that flows from a brain supercharged by the act of controlled attention onto the here-and-now. That profound insight allows you to see what your normal mindset, full of noisy self-talk and scheming and assumptions, cannot detect about the person(s) you're dealing with.

You can actually know what it's like to LOVE what you're doing. Most sales people I've ever talked to don't truly love what they are doing - especially in the moments when they're not doing anything or making any money. I'm talking about a moment-to-moment PASSION for the craft, and gratitude for the PRIVILEGE of being able to provide your product or service because you know in your CORE that you are contributing something to the world.

That's what awaits the person who trains their mind in such a way that they can do 'ENLIGHTENED SALES' and make practical, daily, moment-to-moment contact with what's termed in this thread "THE OBSERVER SELF." - by DynamicMentalFitness

Thank you for the input. Does anyone else have an opinion on this topic? - by Community Mailbox

Holyschmoly -- I never realized selling was such a reverential and ecstatic experience, although I know what DynamicMentalFitness is saying has truth to it. Professional sales is certainly rising above personal ego impulses -- at least for the most part. The funny thing is, customers often come with their egos intact and engaged, so sometimes it gets a little prickly. That can be a good thing, it' s a challenge for professional sales skills and selling confidence. But an ego driven customer can also knock me right out of any "zone" I'm in and bring me back to earth. - by ToddR

Todd--

I definitely agree that the egotism of the customer is a major challenge, but here's something interesting about that fact...

The customer's egotism is the PERFECT tool that works to the advantage of the Sales Professional who understands the power of Self-Observation when dealing with "SLEEPERS".

A person whose attention is all-day-long immersed into (and swept away by) thoughts of the past, future, fears, worries, anxieties and such is AMAZED when they encounter someone who actually OWNS their attention and who cannot be thrown off by the mind games played by Egotists.

The egotism of a customer is almost like a glaring road map that broadcasts the perfect solution to the Observer Self, even if that solution is to abort the sale.

Working from The Present Moment keeps one's attention "In The Room," whereas the Egotist's attention is being entirely manipulated by whatever is occurring in their thought-based reactions.

Because the Observer is "Here, Now!", he or she is able to detect subtleties in the reactions and expressions of the Egotist that a NON-Observing Sales Pro would miss. The Observer has the power to remove all selfish concern and intuitively work with an Egotist with such proficiency that it feels like MIND READING.

The concept is a bit challenging to explain, but essentially a person whose mental habit is to be exquisitely awake and aware in a sales situation has a major advantage over those who act from mental slumber.

And, interestingly, Sales really is a reverential and ecstatic experience when one operates from Now - it ceases to be merely a job and becomes a self-expanding, fun hobby. - by DynamicMentalFitness

In your opinion would you and/or your customers benefit from detaching from ego-consciousness and stepping back into the observer self during the sales process and if so how?

From Harryman's blog you can see the influence of Ken Wilber who has had much influence on writers I have followed.

I've studied quantum physics and its relationship to human concsciousness and I enjoy the impact of that knowledge on my life. But long before I became aware of that field I was aware of what I call the "third eye" which is that Observer of what is happening between me and a prospect. I credit much of my success to it. Yet, I've talked to others who are also successful in sales, and although they say that they wish they could harness that power, they admit they haven't. The Wilber stuff is heady and appeals to those who want to explore the mind to give them an advantageous understanding. Whether those wants are met, ironically--almost paradoxically--depends on how one can detach from the ego state in order to learn how to detach from the ego state. You see a lot of failed attempts among so-called New Agers. - by Gary A Boye

This thread is awesome and whats been discussed is new to me.
I want to learn more.Where do I start,is their a book you would recommend ?

Positive Regards - by salesdog

I can point to 2 books that are about quantum consciousness. Both are a little technical at some points, but worht the effort of reading. Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner & Elemental Mind: Human Consciousness and the New Physics by Nick Herbert. As for present moment sales, DynamicMentalFitness seems to have a business based on these issues and this approach to sales.
Good Luck Todd - by ToddR

Can the observed and observer be separated that simply since each is made out of the same stuff? There are those with an inclination toward mental gymnastics and analytical power capable of mind games which make these kinds of distinctions to various degrees.

A friend who wants to be very seccessful in sales imagines he is egoless in his approach to life yet everyone around him sees ego with a capital E attached in all his actions. Tell him that and he'shurt, confused and disoriented.

I've told him that not to just watch him squirm for the fun of it but in a futile attempt to help him see what others see.

There's enough superstition to go around and discernment, detachment and dispassionate thinking is real.

Ego can be a strong and compelling positive force.

Can seller and buyer ework better form detached ego consciousness? I don't know. It's not something that will make much of a difference for those who work from the simple proposition: if I ask if they want it, do a little expectation clarification, then make the sale if it's to be my job is done.

My job is done.

The best to you in 2010.

MitchM - by MitchM

This thread is awesome and whats been discussed is new to me.
I want to learn more.Where do I start,is their a book you would recommend ?

Positive Regards

It doesn't start with a book, although there are good books on the topic. It starts with an awareness. Try thinking of the coincidences that effect your life, and decide whether they are truly coincidences.

In a nutshell, quantum theory says that the observed cannot exist without the observer.

There are lot of references to Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich on this site and in much of sales lore. That book, along with others like Allen's As a Man Thinketh are primers about a subject those men discovered before quantum theory books multiplied in book stores.

I suspect that what Mitch says works does work because he sees it working. All about the Observer. If he didn't see it working, it just might not work. No coincidence that the man who created the model Mitch uses and talks about, Jacques Werth of High Probability Selling, has expresses great enthusiasm for a book called Power Vs Force, TheHidden Determinants of Human Behavour by David R. Hawkins. That is a book that engages this topic profoundly.

"Mental gymnastics", "mind games"...Mitch, I don't know. That would be like saying those blues you play are only as good as the lyrics. - by Gary A Boye

In my experience living in the moment is only a part of good sales practice. When I was doing business to business corproate sales, success almost always depended upon preparation, so anticipation and looking to what might be needed was huge. At the time of the sales meeting I was living in the moment only to the extent that I was confident I was properly prepared. At that point rising above and watching from afar would have been inappropriate. My clients usually wanted my opions and wanted to "feel" what I was feeling about the project. I had to be engaged with in the moment for parts of that but also genuinely interested in the future possiblities of the project. Clients almost always brougt along a nay sayer whoes job it was to pick apart the proposal and bring the whole encounter down to the earth. They pushed and pulled...there was no staying above it all..that kind of wise detachment would end in no sale.
Now I'm not saying that being present in the moment isn't part of good sales practice, I believe it is, but it's only part of the story. - by ToddR

Very interesting thread. Ties in to Buddhism which in itself is a fascinating and fairly major subject.
At a simple level I think being able to take a step back and see yourself how others see you is invaluable. We all know of people who act like total jerks, but they just can't see it themselves. These people are doomed to keep repeating the same (unsuccessful) behaviours.
Also in sales if you can't disassociate yourself from your own ego and needs how can you "take a walk in the other person's shoes". Something that we should all aim to do.
--
Namaste
Mark - by markg

Just remember the Budda was a wealthy prince that started life in a detached condition. He felt that floating above it all was too easy and meaningless. He was willing to accept the suffering he saw around him once he left the protection of his childhood haunts. For the budda, it wasn't a matter of living constantly in that position of observer, it was the struggle to get back to that once he got knocked out of his zone. He would then seek the present moment and the acceptance of reality he found there every time he re-arrived.
In terms of sales I think its a similar story. At some point you have to bring your awareness to the customer's situation and then deal with the reality you find there. - by ToddR

Hello, have any of you got a foot on the ground! Get out there and sell somthing. ;sm

And I thought I was too high brow! I have enough trouble understanding what others are thinking. To do that I have to suspend my own thoughts.

Hello, have any of you got a foot on the ground! Get out there and sell somthing. ;sm

What did Lao Tse say about reverse snobbery? ybrw; - by Gary A Boye

What did Lao Tse say about reverse snobbery? ybrw;

;bg I don't remember. It was too long ago. - by Clive Miller

The following quote paints a clear picture of what is meant by "The Observer Self":

In your opinion would you and/or your customers benefit from detaching from ego-consciousness and stepping back into the observer self during the sales process and if so how?

This question taps into our current research:

The philosophical foundation of this discussion can be found in Phenomenology, Existential Phenomenology, Transcendental Phenomenology, along with Taoism, Zen and many other thought systems.

Notice that you are nothing like you were when you were 20 years old. That's easy:education, relationships, children possibly, and just life experiences in general. You can also "see" yourself in your mind going through time during all your physical changes of life. This side of you is flexible to meet the variety of physical situations life has to offer. So many changes. (Social Observed Self)

Now also notice you are exactly like you were when you were 20 years old. That's also easy because you have always had that one stabilized abstract sense of self which has enabled you to see yourself change through time. If there was not this stable side of you to form your beliefs, you could never have a relationship with anyone nor accumulate life acheivements in any one direction. This stability establishes our sense of security.
(Internal Observing Self)

This dialectic of change and no-change produces "our awareness of becoming" in the symbolic form of our unique maturation. This process has also been referred to our ego-consciousness in some circles.

With detachment from the ego-consciousness and left with only the "observer self," there could not be any judgment as nothing would have meaning. This would leave us only to observe the unknowable. This person would not know there is a sale in process.

Also, the question essentially asked that the unified self detach from the very duality responsible for its existence.

A very good example of a detached ego-consciousness is found in the writings of Helen Keller. She could not see or hear within the first 2 years of her life. Yet, later earned a college degree and wrote many books. - by John Voris

There was a time in my selling when I was fully immersed in the mechanical motions and scripts acquired through practice of training, and was able to sell quite well. Thing is, I was simultaneously training my mind for the end result of being genuinely, truly happy, and learned, inevitably, that a machine can never be truly alive.

So, I decided to trust my knowledge of sales techniques as being well-conditioned - that I would know what to say and what to do when it came time or necessity for strategic questions, trial closes, or closes - and step instead into the flow of the present moment.

Whereas some people believe that has something to do with being 'distant', the reverse is true. Being here, "NOW", is the ONLY form of direct, completely immersed experience and participation in a sales scenario (or any other life moment).

What I discovered was an stunning, utterly different way to sell, even when employing standard words and techniques. What I was amazed and delighted to find out is that the REASONS WHY sales techniques are so effective is that they are based on natural psychological laws, and that those laws are easy to master and navigate while one is Awake in the present moment.

One becomes CLOSER to the prospect, not more distant. The nature of the client becomes crystal clear to the mind that is crystal clear enough to see the truth.